On January 14, 1994, Boris Yeltsin, Bill Clinton and Leonid Kravchuk - the leaders of the Russian Federation, the USA and Ukraine - signed a tripartite statement that fixed the policy of deactivating the strategic forces of all three states. Special attention was paid to the elimination of the nuclear arsenal, inherited by Ukraine after the collapse of the USSR.
In particular, the parties spoke in favor of the withdrawal of the intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) PC-18 (UR-100N UTTH “Stilet”) and PC-22 (RT-23 UTTH “Molodets”) from the territory of the country. In exchange, Moscow and Washington offered Kiev guarantees of security, monetary compensation, and various types of economic support.
“The three presidents made a decision regarding simultaneous actions to withdraw nuclear warheads from Ukraine and provide compensation to Ukraine in the form of fuel assemblies for nuclear power plants. Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton informed President Kravchuk that Russia and the United States are ready to provide Ukraine with security guarantees, ”the document says.
- Dismantlement of the UR-100N UTTH “Stilet” ICBM warhead
- Reuters
In addition, the United States agreed to provide Ukraine with at least $ 175 million in the framework of the Nunn-Lugar program that has been in operation since December 1991. This project was aimed at financing the process of disposing of nuclear weapons in the post-Soviet space.
"Chernobyl would have seemed a trifle"
Ukraine inherited from the USSR the third largest nuclear arsenal in the world, including tactical nuclear weapons (NW), strategic bombers, mine and mobile launchers of ICBMs, warehouses with hundreds of different types of nuclear warheads.
According to the first president of Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, 165 intercontinental ballistic missiles and 900 warheads remained in the country. Other data can be found in the Ukrainian media: Ukraine’s nuclear arsenal allegedly included 175 ICBMs, 46 silo launchers, 1.8 thousand warheads, 60 Tu-22M3 strategic bombers and 423 X-22 long-range supersonic cruise missiles.
Ukraine’s nuclear disarmament was carried out on the basis of both international agreements and national legislation. On July 16, 1990, Kiev adopted a declaration on state sovereignty, in which non-nuclear status was proclaimed. The document suggested that the country would abandon the acquisition, production and distribution of nuclear weapons.
The process of nuclear disarmament of Ukraine began in 1991 with the export of an arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons to the Russian Federation. In the summer of 1992, Kiev gave Moscow almost all tactical missiles (about 200 units). In May 1992, Kravchuk sent a letter to US President George W. Bush, in which he announced Kiev’s readiness to get rid of strategic offensive weapons. The appeal of the President of Ukraine gave rise to tripartite talks between Ukraine, the United States and the Russian Federation, which ended by January 1994.
According to the memoirs of Kravchuk, the elimination of Soviet nuclear weapons could not be delayed, since in 1997 the operational life of the warheads produced in the territory of the RSFSR was completed. In numerous interviews, he repeated that if Ukraine had refused to export a nuclear arsenal, then “Chernobyl would have seemed a trifle.”
Kravchuk argued that Kiev did not have the resources to maintain the nuclear arsenal inherited from the USSR and to ensure its safe operation. At the same time, the first president of Ukraine complained about the pressure exerted by the Russian Federation and the United States.
According to Kravchuk, his Russian counterpart, Boris Yeltsin, in an ultimatum form, said that the Russian Federation would not accept "explosive warheads" after 1997. The United States, according to the former president of Ukraine, forced Kiev to begin denuclearization using diplomatic tools.
On January 20, 2014, in an interview with UN Radio, the permanent representative of Ukraine to the world organization, Yuriy Sergeev, stated that in the 1990s Kiev could not “keep the missiles on alert” due to lack of money and the corresponding technological base. In addition, the diplomat drew attention to the chaos that reigned after the collapse of the USSR in the army units. Sergeyev called the absurd criticism that Ukraine abandoned the status of a nuclear power.
“Having a nuclear arsenal, into which either a terrorist can crawl, or someone with an ordinary rocket, we sat like a powder keg and scared everyone: if you touch us, we will explode with you,” said Sergeyev.
- Intercontinental ballistic missile transportation in the Khmelnitsky district, 1996
- Reuters
In a conversation with RT, Dmitry Drozdenko, a journalist with the magazine Arsenal of the Fatherland, noted that the denuclearization of Ukraine had made a huge contribution to international security. As a result, it was decided to take out a strategic arsenal in the Russian Federation with American financial support.
“In the 1990s, Ukraine could not control the nuclear arsenal. It's not just about money and the lack of certain competencies in Kiev. In 1993, quite a few highly qualified specialists left the rocket forces and specialized defense enterprises. For example, some officers of the Strategic Missile Forces moved to serve in Russia. Ukraine was unable not only to control nuclear weapons, but even to protect them, ”stated Drozdenko.
"Historical error"
The work on the elimination of the nuclear arsenal was led by the Center for the Administration of the Strategic Nuclear Forces of Ukraine. Until 1997, all warheads were removed. Parts of the Strategic Missile Forces were disbanded. However, the process of denuclearization is not over.
During the presidency of Leonid Kuchma (1994–2005) and Viktor Yushchenko (2005–2010), the utilization of the PC-22 was completed, part of the PC-18 arsenal (about 30 units) and several strategic bombers were transferred to Russia. Ukraine also completed the dismantling of equipment used by the Soviet Strategic Missile Forces, disposed of cruise missiles and bombers in storage and blew up silo launchers.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), as of 2014 in Ukraine (including the Crimea, Donetsk and Lugansk regions) there are about a thousand enterprises that used radioactive resources and materials, including highly enriched uranium. True, 800 of them are medical institutions, the rest are industrial facilities and research centers.
Nuclear disarmament was not rosy. Kiev constantly complained about the amount of compensation for the nuclear warheads transferred to the Russian Federation and demanded that Moscow pay $ 3 billion. In response to these claims, on June 13, 2000, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that the Russian Federation had fulfilled all obligations to Ukraine.
In particular, Moscow supplied Kiev with 1,800 units of fuel assemblies for Ukrainian NPPs from 1993 to 1998. As a goodwill gesture, Russia has compensated Ukraine for the cost of fissile materials extracted from tactical nuclear weapons. On February 16, 2000, Moscow agreed to write off Kiev’s debt in the amount of $ 1.099 billion, "including $ 199 million in compensation for the cost of fissile materials."
In the 2000s, with the submission of the radically minded part of the political elite in Ukraine, there was a discussion about the need to restore the status of a nuclear power. After the coup d'état of February 2014, the representatives of the post-Maid authorities joined the idea.
- Disassembly of a Tu-22M3 strategic bomber
- Reuters
- © Gleb Garanich
In September 2014, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Valery Geletey threatened to launch a nuclear weapons project if the West did not provide the country with military assistance in the conflict in the Donbas. In addition, according to Geletey, Moscow “through unofficial channels” threatened Kiev to use tactical nuclear weapons. The Minister expressed confidence that Ukraine will be able to create a nuclear warhead within ten years.
In April 2018, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), Alexander Turchinov, called the mistake of Kravchuk and Kuchma’s refusal of nuclear status. The official believes that the possession of atomic weapons would have made impossible the “Russian aggression” in 2014.
“Now, after all these events, we can conclude that many people will not like it: nuclear disarmament was our historical mistake. The security guarantees given to us are not even worth the paper on which they were written ... What can stop an aggressive nuclear country (meaning RF. - RT ) from a massive invasion? Only a modern, powerful weapon of deterrence, ”said Turchinov.
In December 2018, the former representative of the Ukrainian mission to NATO, Major General Peter Garashchuk, said that Ukraine had enough industrial capacity and finance to "develop and release its nuclear weapons." In his opinion, the development work can unfold at the Dnepropetrovsk plant "Yuzhmash", which in the 1970s, in cooperation with other Soviet enterprises, developed the ICBM R-36M "Voevoda" ("Satan").
- Removal of highly enriched uranium from Ukraine, 2012
- Reuters
“In reality, Ukraine is not able to create anything, and this is not only a matter of money. Firstly, Kiev never possessed the technology of warhead production, and secondly, Yuzhmash lost the lion’s share of competencies in the rocket and space industry. Hot heads in Kiev should be reminded that all the rockets in the Ukrainian SSR were created in cooperation with the plants of the RSFSR. Ukraine cannot even develop tactical nuclear weapons, let alone strategic weapons, ”said Dmitry Drozdenko, a columnist for the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine.
The expert is also confident that any attempts by Ukraine to launch a project to create nuclear weapons will be instantly stopped by the United States. His opinion is confirmed by the warning of US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volcker, made in August 2017. The diplomat said that Ukraine made the right decision, abandoning the nuclear arsenal, and added that restoring the status of a nuclear power would not be "something positive for Ukraine."
“Along with Russia, the Americans were the main interests of the nuclear disarmament of Ukraine. Over the past quarter century, their position has not changed.
Washington is well aware of the disastrous consequences of even the partial nucleation of Ukraine. The reason is in the complete absence of Kiev’s competences and culture of dealing with a nuclear arsenal. Across the ocean, there is reason to fear that Ukraine may become a source of leakage of technologies that are so important to the security of the United States and all of humanity, ”Drozdenko concluded.